Say no to Dream Act, Rick Scott says in Miami

Hours before the U.S. House of Representatives voted to narrowly pass the Dream Act, Republican Gov.-elect Rick Scotttoured the Port of Miami and said he opposed the legislation.

"I'm against the Dream Act," he said. "Why? I don't believe in amnesty."

Scott campaigned heavily during the GOP primary for an Arizona-style immigration law in Florida but shied away from the controversial issue during the general election.

"I believe the federal government needs to secure our borders," Scott said Wednesday. "I also believe we need to have a logical immigration policy. I don't believe in amnesty. "I also believe that if you are stopped in our state and you are violating our laws, just like I get asked for my ID if I were stopped, you should be asked if you're legal or not. We have to be fair. We're a state of laws, we're a country of laws, and we have to abide by the law."

The Dream Act, which now faces an uphill climb in the Senate would legalize hundreds of thousands of undocumented students brought illegally into the country by their parents when they were children. In the House, three South Florida Republicans -- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart -- voted for the measure.